There are times when I post a watermarked proof from a show, and someone screenshots it before I’ve even gotten home. I want to explain exactly why that’s theft, plain and simple.
What screenshotting actually costs your photographer
I don’t get paid a salary to shoot your show. I get paid when exhibitors buy their photos. That’s it. So every dollar I put into gear, insurance, diesel to get to the grounds, my own time behind the camera and at the editing desk, the software I use to process hundreds of images, gallery hosting, and sometimes even the fees I pay a production or the classes I sponsor for exhibitors comes out of my pocket first and gets paid back later, if it gets paid back at all.
I’ve been to shows where nobody bought a single photo. I walked away three to four figures in the hole on gear, travel, and time, while my watermarked images got screenshotted and passed around anyway. I can’t keep showing up for a community that won’t support the person documenting it.
It’s the law, not just my policy
Here’s what a lot of exhibitors don’t realize: copyright isn’t something a photographer has to apply for or stamp on an image to make it real. In the United States, a photograph is protected by copyright the moment I press the shutter. That protection lasts for my lifetime plus seventy years. Screenshotting a proof image and posting it, even with the watermark still on it, is unauthorized use of someone else’s copyrighted work. Being under eighteen doesn’t create an exception to that. You can find that information on copyright.gov.
If a photographer has registered their copyright, courts can award statutory damages up to $150,000 per image for willful infringement. Registration is what unlocks that number, so plenty of photographers who never bothered to register are stuck fighting for actual damages instead, which is exactly why I make sure to register my own galleries now.
Buying a photo doesn’t mean you own it
This trips people up constantly, so I want to be clear about it. When you purchase an image from me, you’re buying a license to use it, not the copyright itself. I keep the copyright. What that license allows depends on what you paid for.
Most of my sales are personal use licenses. That means you can share the image on social media, but the file is sized too small to print. If you want to print your photo, you need printing rights, which cost more because you’re getting a larger, print-ready file. If a business, sponsor, or publication wants to use an image for advertising or promotion, that’s commercial use, and the price goes up again because the value of that use is higher. None of those tiers include the right to screenshot a proof and skip paying for any of them.
This isn’t just me saying it
A story went around the barrel racing and rodeo world recently about a photographer who started posting heavily watermarked proofs found on exhibitors’ profiles, faces blacked out, names withheld, and asking people not to shame anyone publicly. The comments turned into a real conversation about respect, and one professional equine photographer summed it up better than I could.
She pointed out that education matters, especially for younger competitors who’ve never been taught what a proof image is or why it’s watermarked in the first place, and she’s right that once someone knows better, it becomes a choice. But she also didn’t let anyone off the hook for the cost. Photographers sit in blazing sun and awful weather, sink thousands into gear, insurance, and editing software, and give up entire weekends to document other people’s runs. Her line has stuck with me: buying a photograph does not usually mean you own the copyright; you’re purchasing a license, and the photographer keeps the rest.
What I’m doing about it going forward
I’ve added language directly into my watermark spelling out the consequence: take a screenshot of one of my images without paying for it, and you’re on the hook for a $200 theft fee. If that fee doesn’t get paid, you’re blacklisted. I won’t shoot you again until it’s settled, and from that point forward, your galleries are private and password-protected, viewable only if you pay for access.
I’m also starting a finder’s fee. If you spot one of my screenshots being used somewhere it shouldn’t be, and you’re the first to send it to me, I’ll send you a free web image as a thank-you.
Support the person behind the camera
I love this community, and I love showing up for it every weekend, whether that’s under a blazing sun or freezing my hands off in January. But I can only keep doing that if the people I’m photographing actually buy the work. Before you screenshot a proof, ask yourself if you’d walk up to someone’s trailer and take a bridle off the hook. It’s the same thing.
If you want to see your photos, purchase them properly and use them as your license allows. If you have questions about what license you need for a specific use, shoot me a message or fill out my contact form, and I’ll walk you through it. You can check out my show galleries here.
Beautifully written, and explained very well. Thank you for advocating not only for yourself, but for other photographers who may not be as eloquent (ie, me! Haha).